Reawakened
by Victora Dashner
Summary: Elena wakes up in transition, the Salvatores at her side. Before she died, she had chosen Stefan, but now that she's a vampire, will things change? Delena. Rated T for now. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

I was dead. Of that, I was certain. I could feel the water rushing into my lungs, the coldness spreading through my body and overtaking me. I could feel myself slipping from consciousness, the last of my will to fight against the water floating to the surface with Matt and Stefan. I was drowning, yet I was not afraid. In my lifetime, short as it was, I had loved. My friends, my family, Stefan and Damon. After the accident with my parents I wasn't sure it would be possible again. But it was. I had learned the importance of friendship and I had learned bravery and loyalty. And when I finally let my eyes close, let the darkness take me, Stefan was the last image in my mind. And I was happy.

It was when I woke up that I realized that everything I had learned before, as a human, was for nothing. I had been turned. My friends had allowed this. Jeremy had allowed this. Stefan, Damon let them do this to me. There was no friendship here, no loyalty anymore. And I sure as hell wasn't feeling brave. I was more scared than I had ever been. And now I had a choice to make.

Stefan shot out of the chair next to the table I was laid upon, like a fish pulled from the sea left to die. The lights were bright as I lay there, gasping for air, filling my lungs once more with the oxygen I had so desperately craved while I sat stuck in Matt's truck in the bottom of the river. A million things flashed through my mind. Where was I? How did I get here? Where did all of these faces come from, hovering over me now? How am I alive?

The first voice that I heard, over all of the "What's happening?"s and "She's alive?"s was a voice that I had not expected to hear again, let alone long for and desire the way I had at that moment. Though it was Stefan who was at my side, his hands gripping mine, it was the voice of his brother that brought me to the surface of consciousness. He said one word, my name, and he said it in a way that made me feel grounded, that reassured me everything was going to be okay. All in that one word, a hushed breath of a word. "Elena."

I felt hands on my shoulders as I tried to sit up, like an extra strong force of gravity pushing me back to the table. "What's going on?" I tried to choke out, my throat raspy from swallowing so much water. How long had I been dead? It seemed like hours ago that Stefan pulled Matt from the truck and left me there to die.

"Elena, I need you to just relax. Just try and relax, lie down."

It was Meredith telling me this. But I didn't want to listen. I was full of adrenaline, having just woken up from the dead. I still couldn't understand it. What's dead never stays dead in Mystic Falls, but I am no supernatural being. Sure I was the doppelganger, but that didn't allow me to come back to life. If anything, it had threatened my life on more than one occasion. I sat up on my elbows and checked my fingers for any rings that could have saved my life. Nothing. Which only left one other option I could think of.

I stared into the faces that watched me: Jeremy, Meredith, Damon, Stefan. I felt the anger slowly seeping through my veins even at just the thought of it. I attempted to stay calm as I said the words. "Am I…a vampire?"

No one answered. Jeremy looked at the floor. Meredith looked at Stefan; Stefan looked at Damon. Damon looked me in the eyes, so intensely that I thought he was trying to answer me telepathically. "Everyone out," he said in a low, but menacing voice. Jeremy and Meredith looked at him. "Out!" he shouted. They turned slowly and quietly left the room. Stefan stood to follow them. "No, not you," Damon said to his brother, a dark look covering his face.

Once the room was empty of everyone but the Salvatores and me, I asked the question again. "Am I a vampire?" This time I couldn't hide the panic that was threatening to overtake me. Stefan took my hand and was silent. I guess he was waiting for his brother to do the talking.

"You're transitioning, yes," Damon answered, his tone flat. His eyes never left mine.

I sat up this time without resistance. "How did this happen?"

"You were given vampire blood, Elena, that's how it happened."

Damon was angry, but I could tell he wasn't angry at me. All the while, Stefan sat silently next to me, his hands surrounding mine. "Who's? Which one of you gave me blood?" Of course it had to be one of them, and at this point, it wasn't hard to guess which one of them it was.

Damon's stare burned into Stefan's face this time. "I did," he answered through clenched teeth.

I felt the tears well up in my eyes. "How could you do this to me?" My words came out as a whisper. I swung my legs over the side of the table, hopping down. I felt a surge of anger as I walked around the table and stood in front of Damon. "How could you!" I yelled, shoving the heels of my hands against his chest. He stumbled backward, shock washing over his face but quickly turning back to anger. Stefan was out of his chair, his hands on my shoulders.

"Elena, you need to calm down," he said to me as if it were that easy.

"Calm down? Do you realize what he's done?" I stabbed a finger in Damon's direction. His gaze was shooting daggers at Stefan's back. "My only options now are to become a vampire or die. How am I supposed to calm down?"

"We can find a way to fix this. Maybe those aren't your only options-"

"Don't lie to her, Stefan," Damon cut in. I felt small as he stepped close to me, mere inches of space separating his body from mine. I cowered inside, wanting to escape the intensity of his black stare that enveloped me like a heavy, dark blanket. He spoke in a low voice. "You have a choice to make, Elena. Think carefully because whatever you decide will have dire consequences. I want you to know that."

I stood unspeaking, tears escaping from my eyes as I understood the weight of his words. Either way, I was dead. And for that I could never forgive him. He had forced this situation onto me. As a human, I had hoped to live a life with Stefan, long and happy, and I had wanted Damon to be a part of it, too. When I had awoken, minutes ago, I had wanted nothing more than see his face, to have him hold me in his arms and let me know that this nightmare had been only that. But now, as I stood with his dark eyes fixed on mine, I hated him. I hated him for what he had done to me. I stared back at him, matching his force, and spoke. "I wouldn't have to choose if it weren't for you. I never would have had to choose if you had just stayed the hell away."

I knew my words were sharp, as I had intended them to be. I was unsatisfied, however, when his expression didn't change. The darkness in his eyes only got darker and I could feel him turning cold. The anger and frustration that was radiating off of him was only absorbing into my own. Stefan put a hand on his brother's chest and gently pushed him away. "Damon, let's go." He finally tore his eyes from mine and I felt the weight of him lift. I breathed out, not realizing that I was holding my breath. I listened to his footsteps as he headed for the door and my heart rattled in my chest when he slammed to door behind him.

When he was gone, I regretted everything I had said. He had turned me, saved my life. Even if I wasn't grateful right now, I knew I would be in the future. I felt Stefan's hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "I'll be fine." Stefan. Before the accident, it was Stefan who I loved. I couldn't imagine being apart from him. But now things were different. I felt different. The way his hand rested upon my shoulder felt different. And suddenly I wasn't sure of my choice anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

I sat on the Salvatore's couch, listening to the rain pelt the windows outside. It was a lulling sound, the warmth of the fire not helping either. I had just been released from the hospital by Meredith so that I could have time to think in a more comfortable place. After all, I had a decision to make.

I couldn't feel myself dying at the moment, but I knew the moment would hit me hard when it came. I could either drink vampire blood and complete the transition, officially becoming a creature of the night, or I could die as I was meant to as a human. There were pros and cons to both outcomes. On the vampire side, I would still be alive, in some way. I could spend eternity with the Salvatores and have more than a lifetime to make _that_ decision. But would I really want that? Isn't living forever torturous? Just look at Damon.

Damon. He wasn't around to help me get home; Stefan drove me. He was out doing God knows what while I sat in a big empty house contemplating my own death. He knew how much he meant to me, after everything that had happened, after I had told him that my choice had been Stefan, he knew that I still loved him in a different way. I shivered as a chill ran up my spine at the thought of having to die again without Damon at my side.

"How are you feeling?"

Stefan's soft voiced surprised me. He smiled down at me sympathetically, knowing what I had been thinking. He held out the blanket that he had in his arms.

I smiled back at him. "Thanks." I covered myself, the chill under my skin not going away. Stefan sat on the other end of the couch, far enough away that he wouldn't accidentally touch me, but close enough to make me feel suffocated.

He was watching me carefully. "Why me?" he finally asked after the silence had become uncomfortably long.

"What?"

"Why did you choose me?"

I looked at him, trying to see what I saw when I had loved him. I had chosen him because he was right for me. Damon had so many issues, involving me, and it was too hard to see past them. So I had chosen Stefan. And now, sitting here with him inches away from me, I couldn't make myself feel those feelings for him anymore. Not after what had happened in the river. "Because you saved me."

He kept his eyes trained on me, not understanding. "That was years ago, Elena, when your father asked me to save you."

He was right, but shouldn't that still matter now? "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."

This time, he shook his head. "No, it was Matt who I saved this time. I left you in that truck to die. I didn't even try to save you."

I had nothing to say. I had been willing to sacrifice myself for my friend and I was glad that Stefan had obliged. He _was_ right for me. And in that moment, underneath all that water, he had understood me deeper than anyone else ever could. And that's why he had taken Matt. But it was an odd situation, the one I was in now. I couldn't help but wonder if Damon would have done the same thing or if he would have let his love for me blind my wishes.

Stefan smiled, despite the dark nature the conversation was taking. "As fate would have it, Damon is technically the reason you're here now."

My brow creased in confusion. "What do you mean 'technically'?"

"It was his blood that Meredith had given you before the accident."

I let the words float on the surface before finally sinking in. These past few torturous hours, I had been hating Damon for turning me himself, when really he was not directly to blame. How could I have been so stupid? Once again, I had doubted his will to let me go, even if it meant death. But he had. He knew the circumstances and he had still trusted my life to my friends. Which is what I had wanted, to be able to make my own decisions without interference. And that was why _Damon_ was right for me.

As if on cue with my thoughts, Damon walked through the door. Stefan and I both turned and he stopped in his tracks. His face was dark and he wouldn't look me in the eye. He walked to the table of liquor and poured himself a drink. "How's everything going in here?" he asked without any genuine curiosity. I guess he had made up his mind about me.

I hadn't noticed it before, but I was starting to feel tired, like the blanket that Stefan gave me was heavier than before, pressing its weight down on my body, my lungs, making it harder to breathe. "I'm fine."

Damon snorted. "I wouldn't have expected any other answer."

"What does that mean?" I asked, throwing as much anger behind my words as I could muster. I tossed the blanket aside and stood up, immediately feeling woozy. Stefan was at my side, grabbing a hold of my arm to stabilize me. Damon watched us carefully and I thought I noticed a spark of worry in his eyes.

"It means that you will never face what's directly in front of you."

I took a step in Damon's direction, shrugging Stefan's hold off. "I _am_ facing this. I'm facing an eternity of life undead or death itself. I'm sorry if it's going to take me a little time to come up with a solid decision."

"Well you'd better work quickly," Damon spat, "because a little time is all you have." And he left.

I stood there staring at the space where he had been standing, tears springing into my eyes. Stefan stayed his distance, which was probably safest for everyone. I took a step to follow Damon and explain to him why it was so hard for me to make a decision, in more than one sense of the word, when my legs buckled underneath me.

When I opened my eyes, I was lying down, somewhere comfortable by the feel of things, trying to force my heavy eyelids open. The room that I was in now was dark, shadows filling the empty spaces. I tried to sit up, to speak, but there were hands pushing me down, a finger shushing my lips. "Easy," a voice whispered in the dark. Stefan's voice. I could tell that he sat down on the bed next to me by the way the mattress moved.

"What happened?"

He was stroking my hair. I wanted to tell him to stop but I didn't have the strength. "You fainted. You're in my bedroom." And then quieter, "We thought you were gone."

The tears that never got a chance to fall were back. "I don't want to die, Stefan," I whispered.

He took my hand in his, tears of his own glazing his eyes. "I know."

"What should I do? Tell me what I should do." I didn't like the desperation in my voice, but I was running out of time. I had to make a decision that would last a very long time and I couldn't do it.

"I can't tell you what to do. But you're strong. You'll be fine either way."

Stefan and his passive aggression. Now was not the time. He brought my hand to his lips, pressing them to my skin for what felt like a lifetime. I could barely keep my eyes open. "I'll love you forever," I heard him whisper before he was gone.

I felt the time slip by, the life slip out of me as I closed my eyes. _This is it_, I thought to myself. _I couldn't live with the both of them so I'm dying without either one of them. _

The next time I was aware of anything, the room was light and hazy, as if lit by a million little candles. I could see both brothers standing at the foot of the bed watching me, waiting for me. The way they stood there, the way they didn't move, assured me that I was dead. And I hadn't even made the choice I wanted.

Stefan disappeared into thin air and I was left alone with Damon. His face like stone, never showing his emotion, cracked and I could see the hurt on his face. "Elena." His mouth formed the words but I couldn't hear the sound. He appeared closer to me, though I didn't see him move. He was at my side now, kneeling next to the bed where I lay dead. At least I thought I was dead. "You can still choose," he whispered to me, desperation filling his eyes. He couldn't leave me and I decided then that I couldn't leave him either.

"I don't want to die." I said the words so quietly that I'm not sure I said them at all.

Damon brushed the hair from my face, smiling gently as his eyes now filled with tears. "I can save you."

I nodded. And then I tasted the raw iron taste of blood, like a mouthful of pennies, sliding down my throat and hitting my stomach. I felt this and I tasted this and I saw Damon and all I wanted was more.


End file.
